Proposition D on Missouri\u2019s 2018 midterm ballot asks voters whether to increase the tax on a gallon of gas. Should you vote for it?\u00a0 Good question. If passed, Proposition D would raise the gas tax by a total of 10 cents, over four years. That doesn\u2019t sound so bad, does it? After all, tax included, a gallon of gas in Missouri costs less than the same gallon in Illinois. You could argue that we\u2019re getting a disproportionate bargain, and that voting yes would bring Missouri in line with neighboring states.<\/p>\n

According to a summary published by the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan St. Louis<\/a>, the current tax is 17 cents per gallon for both gasoline and diesel fuel, compared to Iowa\u2019s 31 cents for gasoline and 32.5 cents for diesel fuel. The higher tax is estimated to generate at least $288 million annually for the Highway Patrol and $123 million annually to local governments for road construction.<\/p>\n

I generally support tax increases, because it\u2019s clear from the necessity of continuous cutbacks in services, Missouri government is not adequately funded. But then I started thinking about the regressive nature of sales taxes, and how this increase would put a disproportionate burden on people at lower income levels. And then I read an op-ed by former Missouri legislator Joan Bray<\/a>. As someone who served 18 years on the Missouri legislature\u2014with a major focus on transportation — Bray\u2019s opinion carries weight. She is urging voters to say no to Prop D, saying that it contains a \u201cpoison pill that should outrage voters.\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s her argument, as published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:<\/p>\n

Just like the last two proposals for gas tax hikes, this increase would disproportionately help rural areas by funding only interstates and \u201cletter highways.\u201d Under the state constitution, gas tax goes solely to roads and bridges. None can be spent for urban or rural public transportation, passenger rail, ferries or bicycle paths. This proposal makes sure those modes continue to starve.<\/p>\n

I had hoped that after the sound drubbing voters gave the last two gas tax hikes, the concrete cartel in Jefferson City would realize it should address the plight of all transportation modes. But it decided to obfuscate instead. It is promoting the tax for safety \u2014 funding the Highway Patrol \u2014 while shifting the patrol\u2019s current appropriation to roads and bridges.<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s poison pill defies responsible distribution of state revenue. It sets up the \u201cEmergency State Freight Bottleneck Fund\u201d into which the Legislature would appropriate general revenue. At last, the road and bridge guys could legally take from the pot of money already gutted by tax cuts to build their pet projects.<\/p>\n

Who would lose from this sleight of hand? Anyone who relies on state funding for elementary and secondary schools, universities, mental health care, Medicaid, hospitals, criminal justice and prisons, environmental protections, and, not to forget, other modes of transportation without their own special tax like roads and bridges have.<\/p>\n

Once again, myopic transportation planners in Jefferson City need to be denied. Locking the state into more funding that ignores the transportation needs of millions of urban, rural and poor Missourians seals the state\u2019s fate in concrete.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s the exact wording that you\u2019ll see on the ballot under Missouri Proposition D. You decide. Full disclosure: Unfortunately, I voted absentee\u2014and I voted yes\u2014before Bray\u2019s op-ed was published. Oops. Someone out there, please cancel me out with a no vote.<\/p>\n

Shall Missouri law be amended to fund Missouri state law enforcement by increasing the motor fuel tax by two and one half cents per gallon annually for four years beginning July 1, 2019, exempt Special Olympic, Paralympic, and Olympic prizes from state taxes, and to establish the Emergency State Freight Bottleneck Fund? If passed, this measure will generate at least $288 million annually to the State Road Fund to provide for the funding of Missouri state law enforcement and $123 million annually to local governments for road construction and maintenance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Proposition D on Missouri\u2019s 2018 midterm ballot asks voters whether to increase the tax on a gallon of gas. Should you vote for it?\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2953,119,3254,946,241,573,3305],"tags":[3314,3315,3316,2511],"yoast_head":"\n